"The American Scholar," Autumn 2008 issue on China

On page 32: A professor of English wrote: "Why are so many Chinese students good at taking tests but poor at analytical thinking." I wonder if the writer discredited himself as a former Chinese student with poor analytical ability? He is professor of English and I trust that he does have analytical thinking as a scholar from China.

The professor wrote further: "China's college graduates are less creative and innovative than college graduates at the West." Is the professor Pro-West/ Anti-China as a former graduate from Heilongjiang University in China? Is he pointing out his own weakness? Perhaps he can be appointed as a professor of Chinese from China as a native of China. I happen to know a person with Ph.D in English but was appointed as a Professor of Chinese since she is a holder of a degree from China. A very interesting case for the reference of a professor of English with thoughts.

Moreover,the professor stated: "China is richer than before but its wealth relies on duplicating and emulating foreign products." Such wild and general statement is unfair,untrue and unjust since China's wealth does not rely on foreign products. On the contrary,China's exports are selling well for the benefit of consumers in all nations. Consequently, China has foreign exchange reserve of $1.8 trillion as the result of China's own efforts in accumulating wealth. However, China's human capital is China's real wealth. Such wealth is not temporary and will not dwindle away as the professor pointed out in his article. I smell a ghost writer here since the article appears to be the work of a Westerner. Oh, Mea Culpa! Perhaps the professor of English is a Westerner other than his ethnicity.

Francis Shieh a.k.a. Xie Shihao,a graduate student from China in 1947. As an octogenarian but I still a learner to blog positive Sino-American Economics for the benefit of USA and China instead of being Pro-West and Anti-China as the writer did. Thanks for your time in reading and I apologize for any less creative thinking if detected? As I am a graduate from a university in China and I do resent the accusation that college graduates are less creative and innovative than college graduates in the West. As a holder of my graduate degrees from the United States and as a US citizen of Chinese ancestry, I have pride of China's Confucianism re ethics and morality to be compared with the financial crisis in the West with equal attention to be paid to Adam Smith as a professor of moral philosophy before the publication of "The Wealth of Nations."

The above write-up is my personal view. Any feedback from readers would be invited with my heartfelt appreciation. Have a great day,everyday! Sunday,Oct.5, 2008 at 2.08 p.m.